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I am a student so everything I cook is just for me and I'm finding it difficult to not waste food and save money!
I already cook meals (curry, tart, pasta bake, stew, pasta sauce etc.) and freeze them to eat for about 4 different meals which saves me money and time (I try to have at least 4 different options frozen and ready to defrost and heat up at a time so it's not always the same as well).
The problem I'm having is with breakfasts and lunches... bread doesn't last that long (and I don't have room to freeze it and my evening meals), milk goes out of date after 3 days of opening, juice in 4 days, wraps in 24 hours, most meats in 24-48 hours... Do I really have to stick with this? I'm so confused
Like, I just used 2 wraps and have 6 left that need to be used within the next 24 hours... that's just not going to happen.. so am j really going to have to just throw them away?

Bread - only get rid if actually mouldy. If it's just stale, you can still use it for breadcrumbs, toast, in soup, bread pudding, bread sauce... I could go on.
Milk - Aldi milk is ridiculously long dated. And any milk, kept in the fridge, should keep up to the use by date and beyond. If you think it's going over, use for white sauces, soup. My Mum used to boil milk that was going off and then cool it - it could then be used for another 24 hours or so. But that was old-fashioned doorstep milk - not sure if it would work with the modern stuff.
Juice - if you're buying a litre of juice, a glass a day will get through it in 4 days. If you're not getting through it that quick, you maybe need to rethink. I prefer to buy the boxes that have a screw lid - at least you can re-seal them, and I certainly keep them longer than 4 days. The ones with the foil tab and the flappy lid don't seem to keep so well. Again, keep in the fridge.
Meat - trust your nose. If it's gone off, it will be obvious. If you are consistently buying meat that isn't being used, then buy less meat. I will use meat if it's a day or so beyond the use-by date, but always do the sniff test first... If you realise it's going to go off before it's used, then cook it - you can then keep it a further 3 days in the fridge (or you can freeze it).
Wraps - will keep in an air-tight container for quite a while, or you can freeze them.

Well done with your money saving ways!! Back in the day, before use by dates etc (and before fridges!!) people (women...) just had to know how long something would keep, how to tell if it had gone off, and how to use up stuff that was past it's best. This stuff is important!

I already cook meals (curry, tart, pasta bake, stew, pasta sauce etc.) and freeze them to eat for about 4 different meals which saves me money and time (I try to have at least 4 different options frozen and ready to defrost and heat up at a time so it's not always the same as well).

Also it's not clear but are you freezing all of it. Most of these meals will keep for a week or so in the fridge, so some can be kept out the freezer to be eaten sooner. If that frees up enough room for half a loaf of bread then half your problem is solved.

Use the frozen bread to make sandwiches and older bread for toast.

In my experience not all milk is equal either, and it seems to differ between supermarkets and suppliers and regions. I personally pay a little extra for milk at Tesco as Lidl milk seems to go of far quicker in my fridge. So if it doesn't last as long as it would try a different supermarket.

When storage is an issue it's really about not buying too much and basing what you cook on what needs used up.

That is such a good tip! I gave up freezing wraps because they seemed to stick together. In fact I gave up buying wraps because of this - I dont eat them , my daughters do but they would always leave the last couple to go mouldy

That is such a good tip! I gave up freezing wraps because they seemed to stick together. In fact I gave up buying wraps because of this - I dont eat them , my daughters do but they would always leave the last couple to go mouldy

I found that milk was starting to Ďturní before I used it up so I swapped to the longlife uht. It took a couple of tryís to get used to the slightly different taste but now I donít notice, still stick it in the fridge. I gave up buying bread when I joined slimming world (tiger loaf and butter is my downfall) and buy the weight watchers wraps, these last a week in the bread bin if you make sure the packets folded back over when opened. I found my veg lasted longer when I started taking them out of the bags and putting them in a basket somewhere cool, iím Convinced they used to sweat lol.

If you have wraps left that are going a bit hard you can chop em up, slow bake them and they make great tortilla chips (even better with a bit of salsa and cheese, then back in the oven for the last few minutes)

It's more important to keep an eye on your fridge temperature than on the sell by dates. I bought a fridge thermometer when I found my cheese was going mouldy a bit sooner and found that the fridge was too warm. The recommendation is now 0-5 degrees C.

I'm on my own and find that a four litre container of filtered milk stays fresh in the fridge until it's used up. It is more expensive than ordinary milk but it's worth the extra not to get that 'off' taste at the end.

You may buy pre-packaged cooked meat that has a "use by" date that is 10 days from now, but which says on the packet "once opened, use within 2 days".

Now I would say the 2 days is probably overly cautious, but there is no doubt that the product will start to go off more quickly once opened, if it has been hermetically sealed in a sterile environment. Once you open the product up to oxygen and bacteria, deterioration accelerates rapidly.

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